Assessment of functionality in people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and determination of factors affecting functioning

Bipolar disorder is known to be a lifelong illness. As it is a chronic disease, it has been observed that it affects people's lives in issues such as deterioration in social, cognitive and other functional areas, and feeling depressed or anxious. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that occurs in early or late adulthood, the disease process varies from person to person, lasts a lifetime, and causes symptoms in many areas of mental health. It is known that schizophrenia greatly affects the functionality of the person in life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the functionality of people diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia and to investigate the effect of disease severity on functionality and to compare the two groups in terms of functionality by determining the factors affecting functionality between these two groups. 39 patients, 16 male and 23 female, who were hospitalized in Moodist Psychiatry and Neurology Hospital and diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, participated in the study. Personal Information Form, Brief Functioning Rating Scale, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) were administered to the participants face-to-face by the researcher. The data obtained from the scales applied to the participants were analyzed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) 22.0 statistical package program. Frequency Analysis, Spearmen Correlation Analysis, Mann Whitney U Analysis and Regression Analysis were used to analyze the findings. When functionality and sub-dimensions related to functionality were compared in people diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia; There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of functionality. As the severity of the illness increases, the functionality in occupational, cognitive, financial matters, interpersonal relations, and leisure activities also deteriorate in people diagnosed with bipolar disorder, while the same findings were found for schizophrenia. Considering the findings of the study, it is seen how much the severity of the disease is related to functionality and how much of an effect it has on it.